Compare · Teams Phone
Keep Teams for chat. Give the front desk a real phone system.
Teams Phone puts calling inside Microsoft 365, administered by your IT admin. For offices with a busy front desk, we fit a phone system with busy-lamp and park keys and an AI receptionist, and keep managing your Microsoft 365 under the same agreement.
Facts about Microsoft Teams Phone checked in October 2026, from their published pages and public records; third-party estimates are labelled. Every claim links to its source.
Fit
Who each is for
Teams Phone
Offices that live in Teams, take few outside calls, and have an IT admin to run calling policies.
SLINC
Offices with a busy front desk: calls transferred, parked and covered all day, desks with busy-lamp keys, and an AI receptionist for the calls nobody can pick up.
Side by side
Teams Phone and SLINC, row by row.
| Topic | Microsoft Teams Phone | SLINC |
|---|---|---|
| Price you see | Teams Phone with Calling Plan is $17 per user per month, paid yearly, which Microsoft lists with communication taxes and fees included, added to a Microsoft 365 or Teams plan. [1] [2] | No price list. After the walk-through you get a written design and a written proposal for one monthly agreement. |
| Outside calls | Teams Phone Standard is an add-on license, and “for users to make and receive external calls using the PSTN, you’ll need to choose a PSTN connectivity option as well.” [2] | Numbers, porting and the phone service are part of the system we fit, with our mobile and desktop apps on your business number. |
| Who sets it up | Teams Phone provides auto attendants and call queues; your admin configures settings and policies “in the Microsoft Teams admin center or by using PowerShell.” [2] [3] | We do. Call flow, hours, holidays and every desk’s keys, written down and approved by you before anything is ordered. |
| Front-desk keys | “Call queue and shared lines assignments on nontouch devices don’t work as they’re not supported.” [4] | Yealink desk phones built for each person, with busy-lamp and park keys laid out for the desk and sidecars where a desk needs more. |
| Changes after go-live | Made by your admin in the Teams admin center or PowerShell. [3] | A call or an email in plain English. We make the change and confirm back. |
| Microsoft 365 | Calling runs inside the same Microsoft tenant as your mail, chat and meetings. [2] | We administer Microsoft 365 under the same agreement as the phones, so Teams stays exactly where it is. |
- Price you see
-
Teams Phone
Teams Phone with Calling Plan is $17 per user per month, paid yearly, which Microsoft lists with communication taxes and fees included, added to a Microsoft 365 or Teams plan. [1] [2]
-
SLINC
No price list. After the walk-through you get a written design and a written proposal for one monthly agreement.
- Outside calls
-
Teams Phone
Teams Phone Standard is an add-on license, and “for users to make and receive external calls using the PSTN, you’ll need to choose a PSTN connectivity option as well.” [2]
-
SLINC
Numbers, porting and the phone service are part of the system we fit, with our mobile and desktop apps on your business number.
- Who sets it up
-
Teams Phone
Teams Phone provides auto attendants and call queues; your admin configures settings and policies “in the Microsoft Teams admin center or by using PowerShell.” [2] [3]
-
SLINC
We do. Call flow, hours, holidays and every desk’s keys, written down and approved by you before anything is ordered.
- Front-desk keys
-
Teams Phone
“Call queue and shared lines assignments on nontouch devices don’t work as they’re not supported.” [4]
-
SLINC
Yealink desk phones built for each person, with busy-lamp and park keys laid out for the desk and sidecars where a desk needs more.
- Changes after go-live
-
Teams Phone
Made by your admin in the Teams admin center or PowerShell. [3]
-
SLINC
A call or an email in plain English. We make the change and confirm back.
- Microsoft 365
-
Teams Phone
Calling runs inside the same Microsoft tenant as your mail, chat and meetings. [2]
-
SLINC
We administer Microsoft 365 under the same agreement as the phones, so Teams stays exactly where it is.
The setup
The setup: who does the work.
Teams Phone is a set of licenses and settings. Somebody in your office has to own them.
What Teams Phone asks of you
- Buy Teams Phone and a way to reach outside numbers: “you’ll need to choose a PSTN connectivity option as well.” [2]
- Build the auto attendants and call queues, and manage calling policies “in the Microsoft Teams admin center or by using PowerShell.” [2] [3]
- Choose touch phones for queue and shared-line keys: on nontouch phones those assignments “don’t work as they’re not supported.” [4]
- Map emergency locations: “The network admin sets up network settings and the LIS to create a network and emergency location map.” [3]
What we do instead
- Walk-through: we learn who answers what at each location, and when.
- Design: a written call-flow map, the hours and holidays, and every desk’s keys, approved by you.
- Build: phones configured and labeled for each person, built to our written standard and checked before handover.
- Cutover: after you close, every route walked and every seat test-called.
- Run: changes by a call or an email in plain English, and Microsoft 365 managed under the same agreement.
The network
When calls break up.
“The network admin sets up network settings and the LIS to create a network and emergency location map.”
Somebody has to know the subnets, the switches and the access points. We run the switches and Wi-Fi in your building for the desk phones, and for the Teams calls and meetings that ride on the same network.
Terms
The fine print
What Teams Phone’s own terms and pricing pages say.
- Calling Plans are “an add-on license to Teams Phone for making calls to the PSTN.” [2]
- Teams Phone with Calling Plan: $17 per user per month, paid yearly. [1]
- Dynamic emergency calling, including security desk notification, “isn’t supported on the Teams web client.” [3]
- “WiFi-based locations are supported on all Teams clients except Teams phones.” [3]
- Some network-setting changes can take “up to four hours” to reach Teams clients. [3]
Fair is fair
Where Teams Phone is stronger
Honest answers build trust, so here is where they win.
- One Microsoft bill and one tenant for mail, chat, meetings and calling. [2]
- Calling inside Teams itself, next to chat and meetings, with no second app. [2]
- The same calling on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Teams phones. [3]
- Microsoft Calling Plans provide dynamic emergency routing for users in the United States and Canada. [3]
Microsoft 365
Already on Microsoft 365?
We manage Microsoft 365 under the same agreement. Keep Teams for chat and meetings; the front desk gets a phone system fitted for it.
- Workstation setup, updates and clean-ups
- Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace administration
- Backups, printers and staff onboarding
- Equipment room clean-ups and labeling
- The front desk on a phone system fitted for it, under the same agreement
Switching
Switching from Teams Phone
Bring your current phone bill and your Microsoft 365 admin contact to the walk-through. We map who answers what, design the front desk, port the numbers and leave Teams in place for chat and meetings. We tell you which Teams Phone licenses you can drop, and when.
Questions
Teams Phone or SLINC: questions.
- Can staff still take calls on their computers and cell phones?
- Yes. Our mobile and desktop apps put the business number on staff phones and computers. Teams stays in place for chat and meetings.
- Do we lose Teams meetings?
- No. Teams keeps chat, meetings and files. The outside phone calls move to the phone system we fit for your front desk.
- Who manages our Microsoft 365?
- We can, under the same agreement as the phones: mailboxes, licenses, shared calendars and file permissions.
Other comparisons
Start with a walk-through
Put our design next to their quote.
We walk the office, map how your calls actually flow, and hand you a written design to set beside anything you have been offered.
- [1] Microsoft, Teams Phone
- [2] Microsoft Learn, Teams add-on licenses
- [3] Microsoft Learn, Configure dynamic emergency calling
- [4] Microsoft Learn, Line keys on Teams phones
Microsoft and Microsoft Teams are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. SLINC is not affiliated with Microsoft. Prices and terms were checked in October 2026 and change often; check the linked source. Spotted something out of date? Email support@slinc.co.